01-10-21 RED LETTER WRAP UP Time to Rock & Roll

 Scripture    Matthew 7:24-27
 We’re obsessed with our phones; a new study has found. The heaviest smartphone users click, tap or swipe on their phone 5,427 times a day, according to research.
Pic - Phones
 

That’s the top 10 percent of phone users, so one would expect it to be excessive. However, the rest of us still touch the addictive things 2,617 times a day on average. No small number.
 “And by every interaction, we mean every tap, type, swipe and click. We’re calling them touches,” it explains.
Pic - phoneaddicts

Averaging out the numbers, the aforementioned figures mean the heaviest users are touching their devices a couple of million times in one year.
... Probably the most interesting thing in all this was that the people surveyed completely underestimated their phone touching. While they were initially shocked by the numbers, 41 percent said “it probably won’t change the way I use my phone.” (Not totally about age - People older do more and my nephew – Matt – does less)
APPLICATION
How many taps, types, swipes and clicks take place between you and God in a day?
If the number of times you were in contact with God on a daily basis could be tracked, would you be shocked by the result? Would it be because of how often, or, how infrequently you reached out to Him?
James 4:8 says, "Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded".
Revelation 2:3-5 says, “You have persevered and have endured hardships for my name, and have not grown weary.  Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken the love you had at first.  Consider how far you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first. If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place”.
 
When you think about love, what color comes to mind? RED!  Red is a color that reminds us of the great love God has for us when Jesus shed his blood, which is why bibles began printing the words of Jesus in RED – hence our 2020 theme was RED LETTER EDITION, based on: Matthew 7:24-27  (THE MESSAGE)
Pic – House on the Rock 3

"These words I speak to you are not incidental additions to your life, homeowner improvements to your standard of living. They are foundational words, words to build a life on.
These words I speak to you are NOT incidental additions to your life,
They ARE foundational words,
My words are NOT homeowner improvements to your standard of living.
They ARE words to build a life on.
If you work these words into your life, you are like a smart carpenter who built his house on solid rock. 25 Rain poured down, the river flooded, a tornado hit — but nothing moved that house. It was fixed to the rock.
26 But if you just use my words in Bible studies and don't work them into your life, you are like a stupid carpenter who built his house on the sandy beach. 27 When a storm rolled in and the waves came up, it collapsed like a house of cards."
 
END OF SERMON ON THE MOUNT
Our theme text is the end of the greatest sermon ever preached. It is Jesus’ conclusion to the sermon on the Mount. Here is a recap of the end – going back a little further than the section of our theme text…
From picturing two ways and two trees, Jesus closed His message by picturing two builders and their houses. The two ways illustrated the start of the life of faith; the two trees illustrated the growth and results of the life of faith here and now, and the two houses illustrate the end of this life of faith, when God will call everything to judgment. There are false prophets at the gate that leads to the broad way, making it easy for people to enter. But at the end of that way, there is destruction. The final test is not what we think of ourselves, or what others may think. The final test is: What will God say?
The test answers are not given in words; not saying "Lord, Lord," and not obeying His commands. It’s easy to learn a churchy vocabulary, and even memorize Bible verses and worship songs, and yet not obey God's will. When a person is truly born again, she has the Spirit of God living within; and the Spirit enables her to know and do God’s will. God's love in her heart motivates her to obey God and serve others.
 
No matter how much we have heard the words of Jesus this year – it means nothing unless it causes us to live by His words. James 1:22-25  Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it — he will be blessed in what he does.
          Doing what Jesus says is what it means to build your house on the rock, which leads to finding an eternal residence which Jesus is building for you right now.
 
The foundation in this sermon of Jesus’ is obedience to Gods Word - obedience that is an evidence of true faith. The two men in this story had a lot in common. Both had desires to build a house. Both built houses that looked good and sturdy. But when the judgment came (the storm), one of the houses collapsed. What was the difference? Not the external look. The difference was in the foundation: The successful builder "dug deep" and set his house on a solid foundation. (I must admit I feel bad when anyone loses a home, but I don’t feel moved to action to help someone rebuild a home that was built on a beach…on the sand. It will only be a matter of time till it falls again.)
 
A false profession will last until judgment (a storm) comes. Many have professed faith in Christ and not withstood the storm. Consider the parable of the four soils…
People used to wonder – are you “once saved always saved”? Of course the answer is yes – God’s salvation is certain. It is the wrong question…the right question is “If I profess Jesus as Lord, is my salvation guaranteed? NO - Matt 7:21  Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.
What is his will? To build your life on the rock OR To hear his words and do them!
 
But the judgment illustrated here probably refers to the final judgment before God. We must not read into this parable all the doctrine that we are taught in the Epistles; for the Lord was illustrating one main point: profession will ultimately be tested before God. Those who have trusted Christ, and have proved their faith by their obedience will have nothing to fear. Their house is founded on the Rock, and it will stand. But those who have professed to trust Christ, yet who have not obeyed God's will, will be condemned.
 
How will we test our profession of faith? By popularity? No, for there are many on the broad road to destruction. And there are many who are depending on words, saying "Lord, Lord" - but this is no assurance of salvation. Even activities in a church organization are no assurance. How then will we judge ourselves?
 
The two ways tell us to examine the cost of our profession. Have we paid a price to profess faith in Christ? The two trees tell us to investigate whether our lives have really changed. Are there godly fruits from our lives? And the two houses remind us that true faith in Christ will last, not only in the storms of life, but also in the final judgment.
 
The congregation was astonished at Jesus’ sermon. Why? Because Jesus spoke with divine authority. The scribes and Pharisees spoke "from authorities," always quoting the various rabbis and experts of the Law. Jesus needed no human teacher to add authority to His words; for He spoke as the Son of God. We cannot lightly dismiss the sermon on the mount, for it is God who gave it to us! God is for us – in the end, he wants our house to STAND!
 
          Being dog owners for the first time in 20 years has given me a new way of seeing some biblical principles and I have recently discovered another. There is a new command we are trying to teach Skipper. “Stand” (explain that) The reason we teach him to stand is to examine him and make sure everything is alright.
Ephesians 6:13-14
Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.
 
Here is how not to “stand”…Robert Duvall’s character gives “sage” advice to his young nephew in the 2003 movie, SECOND HAND LIONS
“Sometimes the things that may or may not be true are the things a man needs to believe in the most.  That people are basically good; that honor, courage and virtue mean everything; that power and money mean nothing; that good always triumphs over evil; and I want you to remember this, that love…true love never dies. You remember that, boy. You remember that.  Doesn’t matter if it’s true or not.  You see, a man should believe in those things, because those are the things worth believing in.”
APPLICATION
This “sage” advice might sound good in today’s relativistic pop culture, but it does nothing to root or ground the soul. How can anything be worth remembering when it isn't believed to be true? It is nothing more than "second-hand" foolishness.  A wise man will build his house upon the rock of truth, not the sinking sand of relativism. In the words of the great hymn, “On Christ the solid rock I stand. All other ground is sinking sand. All other ground is sinking sand.”
PIC Phones 2

CONCLUISON
How many taps, types, swipes and clicks will you have with the words of Jesus this year? 2617 a day?  How about no less than 1 a day?  Will you read God’s word daily? I know there is nothing that will boost your spiritual life more than spending time in the Word of God, most particularly looking at the words of Jesus where you will get to know your savior.